Handball at the 1984 Summer Olympics featured competition for men and women. Due to the USSR-led boycott some strong handball nations from Eastern Bloc did not compete; this gave an opportunity to the Yugoslav team to take both gold medals. Games were played at Titan Gym in Fullerton, California, and the finals were at the Forum, later the Kia Forum, in Inglewood, California.

Qualification

Men

Women

1:Teams joined Soviet lead boycott 2: was invited to replace, but rejected the invitation, because COA supposed the team is not good enough. Then, IHF invited. 3: and withdraw. So qualified without play.

Medal summary

Participating nations

Each qualified country was allowed to enter one team of 15 players and they all were eligible for participation. Four nations competed in both tournaments. A total of 259() handball players (177 men and 82 women) from 14 nations (men from 12 nations - women from 6 nations) competed at the Los Angeles Games: () NOTE: There are only players counted, which participated in one game at least.

Medal table

Railing collapse

The only multi-casualty event noted in the 1984 official report of the Los Angeles Olympics was a small one at team handball where a railing on the bleachers collapsed. The first aid team and the chief medical officer handled the situation quickly and professionally. First aid teams were responsible for moving victims from the stands and broken railings. However, a concern that was not anticipated was the lack of experience in carrying patients from the stands. Four of eight spectators who fell through a wooden railing while trying to catch bouquets from victorious Olympic medal-winners suffered minor injuries but were not hospitalized.